A lorry on North Street in the centre of Bridgwater, returning after dropping its load of aggregate at Hinckley Point C.
Photograph: Sam Frost/The Guardian

Air and noise pollution, traffic chaos and rising rents are blighting the Somerset town that has found itself the gateway for the marathon construction of the new Hinkley Point C (HPC) nuclear power station, locals say.

Limits for air pollution have been exceeded on main roads in Bridgwater on multiple occasions this year, while Highways England data shows truck numbers have increased by more than 20% since building work started in 2016.

On some roads, two heavy goods vehicles pass through every minute. Not all are delivering to Hinkley but, with no bypass built for the nuclear site, locals say it has made the town unnavigable at times.

Buses transporting 4,000 construction workers to the site add to the traffic – and the influx of workers is pushing up rents. Rat runs are in gridlock and a town that is home to just under 40,000 people is experiencing London-level traffic on some roads.

Friends of the Earth, which looked at the air quality data for 2018 and 2019 provided by the local Sedgemoor district council, said it was concerned about the high incidences of particle matter on some roads.

The latest data for traffic shows the number of HGVs has increased from 470 a day in 2014 to 900 in 2018 on Quantock Road, the principal artery out of the town to Hinkley.

For nearby Horsey Level, the number of trucks a day is registered at almost 1,500, while on Taunton Road, the main road coming from the M5’s junction 24, residents have to endure 1,050 a day, making it difficult to cross the road and forcing many cyclists on to the paths for their own safety.

HPC says the number of HGVs travelling every day to and from the site is capped at 750.

For Neal Balcombe, who bought a house off Quantock Road, the stress it is causing to his life is almost unbearable.

“When I first looked at my house I fell in love with it,” he said. “It is detached, it has a lovely big garden, trees behind it. There was a road behind it, but it was tolerable. Now, if you sat in my garden at 4pm on a sunny afternoon and tried to have a conversation you wouldn’t be able to hear each other.”

“Levels of air pollution in the area are unhealthy and over standards set for particle pollution by the World Health Organization,” said Jenny Bates, air pollution campaigner at Friends of the Earth. “These aren’t just arbitrary guides – they’re set to protect our health. Particle pollution is the most dangerous, finding its way deep into our lungs and even bloodstream.”

EDF rejects accusations that it is to blame.

“Our cameras at two of the busiest junctions in Bridgwater show that in peak-hour morning traffic, HGVs delivering to the construction site account for less than 10% of the total HGVs on those roads,” said a spokesman, Gordon Bell.

Hinkley also points out any HGV delivering to the site must be compliant with European standards minimising emissions.

“In terms of pure percentage our vehicles are a low proportion. We provided money for Sedgemoor to put in place air quality plans. I don’t think we are the straw that breaks the camel’s back,” said HPC’s lead planner, Andrew Goodchild.

This is of little solace to residents who complain of the noise, the nuisance and congestion. The endless convoy of buses taking thousands of workers to and from the site each day is an added headache, says Brian Smedley, the leader of the Labour council in Bridgwater.

Hinkley agreed a fund to fit double-glazed windows on some of the busiest roads in Bridgwater. It says this is a goodwill gesture and not an admission of responsibility for the noise of HGVs.

“EDF have paid to replace all my windows, and it’s made no difference. On a summer’s night, I’m not able to sleep with the windows open at all,” said Balcombe. “I am woken up every morning at 5am from the noise of lorries. And when these lorries are empty the clatter they make is unbelievable with the metal bouncing round.”

HPC points out that the HGV movements will ease in the autumn when it switches supplies to the sea. The jetty is now complete and the permission it got for an extra 250 HGVs a day will expire.

For Bridgwater locals a bypass would have been the answer and helped relieve the town of its perennial traffic problem.

The former Labour councillor Mick Lerry, who was involved in the fight for a bypass, said the attempt was stymied because it was never part of the development consent order submitted by EDF. “As it was not part of the application, it could not be considered,” he said.

The government said it had considered the impact of HGVs on Bridgwater and was satisfied.

“Hinkley Point C is a key part of meeting our target of net-zero emissions by 2050, and will provide an enormous boost to the local and national economy.

“Traffic, air quality and noise effects were all considered during the application process. We were satisfied that the developer agreed appropriate proposals to limit HGV traffic,” said a spokesperson for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

Sedgemoor district council said it had made representations over the impact but the decision to give the go-ahead to Hinkley was out of its hands.

“SDC takes the health of its residents extremely seriously and made a strong case through the Hinkley Point C local impact report on the wider impacts of the project,” it said.

Residents on Taunton Road are living with London-style traffic, with numbers of vehicles a day coming close to some of the capital’s busiest.

Transport for London figures show that King’s Cross, also a large building site preparing for Google headquarters as part of a major regeneration programme, had just over 2,000 HGVs a day last year.

But it is not a residential road. Nearby Caledonian Road had 295 HGVs by comparison while Nine Elms in Vauxhall, a busy junction where pollution levels have already exceeded safe levels and which is home to luxury high rises, endured 1,134 HGVs a day, fewer than some roads in Bridgwater.